Scan barcode
A review by nurbasyirah
The Burning by Laura Bates
4.0
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
"...in my opinion it would have made a lot more sense if he had said that fire was like a rumour. Because fire is sneaky. You might think you've extinguished it, but one creeping red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back to life again."
Told from the perspective of Anna Clark, The Burning discussed some important issues of sexism, sexual harassment and online abuse. Anna and her mum had moved all the way to Scotland from Birmingham due to a tragedy of sexual online harassment that had struck her. She changed her last name, got rid of her social media and moved to another country, trying to erase her past, thinking it'd never find its way back to her, but she was proven wrong when her past haunted her, yet again, in a worse possible way.
"I guess things don't always turn out the way you think they will."
The pace of the story was moderate. I find the story of Maggie included in between was quite draggy at first, but although I still find it quite irrelevant to the whole plot, it was an interesting tale and it brought another kind of emotional ride to the story.
Anna was drawn to Robin, a boy in one of her class, but I love how the story didn't center around their love interest or relationship. I'm especially glad that the author didn't turn the story around and make the main character a helpless young lady who needed to be saved by a boy or by love, but instead showed strong female character traits in both Anna and her mum towards the end when handling the situation.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, yes, boys included. God bless Laura Bates for writing Anna's and Maggie's stories.
"Actions have consequences, young lady. You'd do well to remember that."
Disclaimer: I would like to thank Pansing for this ARC in exchange for honest review! This book will be published in February 2019 and will be available at all good bookstores. Pick it up once it's out!
"...in my opinion it would have made a lot more sense if he had said that fire was like a rumour. Because fire is sneaky. You might think you've extinguished it, but one creeping red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back to life again."
Told from the perspective of Anna Clark, The Burning discussed some important issues of sexism, sexual harassment and online abuse. Anna and her mum had moved all the way to Scotland from Birmingham due to a tragedy of sexual online harassment that had struck her. She changed her last name, got rid of her social media and moved to another country, trying to erase her past, thinking it'd never find its way back to her, but she was proven wrong when her past haunted her, yet again, in a worse possible way.
"I guess things don't always turn out the way you think they will."
The pace of the story was moderate. I find the story of Maggie included in between was quite draggy at first, but although I still find it quite irrelevant to the whole plot, it was an interesting tale and it brought another kind of emotional ride to the story.
Anna was drawn to Robin, a boy in one of her class, but I love how the story didn't center around their love interest or relationship. I'm especially glad that the author didn't turn the story around and make the main character a helpless young lady who needed to be saved by a boy or by love, but instead showed strong female character traits in both Anna and her mum towards the end when handling the situation.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, yes, boys included. God bless Laura Bates for writing Anna's and Maggie's stories.
"Actions have consequences, young lady. You'd do well to remember that."
Disclaimer: I would like to thank Pansing for this ARC in exchange for honest review! This book will be published in February 2019 and will be available at all good bookstores. Pick it up once it's out!